Vatican News

Koreans electric with joy over visit of Pope Francis

Seoul, South Korea, Aug 16, 2014 / 12:04 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis has received a warm welcome from the Korean people, many of whom praise him for his acts of compassion, stating that he has the power to provoke a change for the better.

“He is a symbol of hope that life is still beautiful. As I saw Pope Francis, I felt like Jesus came to save us,” Jinhee Yu told CNA after participating in the pontiff’s Aug. 16 Mass of beatification for 124 Korean martyrs.

Meeting the Pope was 'glorious,' recounts Korean altar boy

Seoul, South Korea, Aug 14, 2014 / 02:02 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A young altar server and his sister who presented flowers to Pope Francis during the welcoming ceremony for his arrival to South Korea reveal that they could hardly contain their excitement.

“It was very glorious. I thought ‘this is the last time to meet the Pope, and this is the first time.’ So I was very happy,” Choi Woo-jin told CNA Aug. 14.

Korean journalist seeks to spread Pope’s message of peace

Seoul, South Korea, Aug 14, 2014 / 12:00 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A journalist with South Korea’s leading radio and television network has voiced her joy at covering the papal visit, as well as her desire for his message of peace to lead the nation to a more hopeful future.

“South Korea is (a) divided nation, so I think the Pope’s visit is important for us because he always cares about the people who are poor or in conflict,” Charlotte Huh told CNA Aug. 14.

Vatican diplomacy focuses on humanitarian intervention in Iraq

Vatican City, Aug 13, 2014 / 05:21 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The persecution of Christians and other religious minorities in Iraq and Syria by the Islamic State has pushed Vatican diplomacy to add strong calls for international humanitarian intervention to its prayers for the situation.

The past week has seen the appointment of a papal enjoy to Iraq, a strongly worded open letter from the Vatican's dicastery for interrreligious dialogue, and an urgent appeal from Pope Francis himself to the head of the United Nations.

En route to Korea, Pope prays for journalists killed in Gaza

Aboard the papal plane, Aug 13, 2014 / 12:23 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Aboard the papal flight to South Korea today, Pope Francis led an impromptu moment of silence to pray for a photojournalist who was killed in Gaza, and thanked journalists for their work.

Simone Camilli, a 35-year-old Italian working for the Associated Press, and his freelance Palestinian translator, Ali Shehda Abu Afash, died Aug. 13 along with four Gazan bomb disposal offficers who were trying to dismantle an Israeli missile.

Vatican newspaper remembers Robin Williams

Vatican City, Aug 12, 2014 / 12:18 pm (CNA).- L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, published a brief Aug. 12 article on the death of Robin Williams, calling the comedian and actor an “unforgettable clown with a heart of gold.”

The beloved actor was found dead Aug. 11 in his northern California home. According to the local coroner's office, the probable cause of death was suicide by asphyxiation. Williams had recently been battling “severe depression,” according to his publicist.

Do not fear the call of Jesus, Pope says in radio interview

Vatican City, Aug 12, 2014 / 10:10 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In a 20-minute live interview on an Argentinean radio station on Aug. 8, Pope Francis encouraged young people to fearlessly answer God’s call to selfless love through a vocation.

“Each person has a role, each person has a job to do, a vocation,” the Pope said. “Pray that God sends workers to the harvest, that he sends shepherds.”

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